Earning him the best director award at last year's festival, it's a weighty stream of gorgeous shots and deep emotion. It also proves again that Ceylan ("Distant," "Climates") has the eye of an artist, with the soul to match.

If only his storytelling skills were equally represented.

Instead, the intriguing spurts of suspense in "Three Monkeys" only trip over Ceylan's long, somnolent shots -- of a man thinking, of a man walking, of a man sleeping. When the payoffs do come, they're worth it, but only just.

Hatice Aslan, left, and Yavuz Bingol in 'Three Monkeys.'

THREE MONKEYS 2.5 stars, out of 4

Snapshot: A drama about the fallout of a man's decision to go to jail for his wealthy employer. In Turkish with subtitles.

From a narrative standpoint, the beginning of "Three Monkeys" is among its most solid parts: Servet, a wealthy man with political ambitions, struggles to stay awake as he drives down a dark, lonely road. He ends up nodding off, and a body is left lifeless in the road as a result.

So Servet does what any wealthy man would do. He pays an employee, Eyup, to take the fall for him. In exchange for nine months in a Turkish prison, Eyup will get a fat lump-sum payment upon his release.

While he's away, though, Eyup's wife and teenage son find themselves in need of some cash. Against their better judgment, they ask Servet for an advance on that lump-sum payment. And just like that everything changes.

Well, not "just like that." Very little happens "just like that" in "Three Monkeys." But it all changes, and not for the better. There is betrayal, there is heartache, there are gun-metal gray skies.

(For the record, the "Three Monkeys" in the title refers to those see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil monkeys in the ancient proverbial principle -- which Ceylan said are represented by Eyup and his wife and son.)

Ceylan also had a hand in writing the screenplay for "Three Monkeys," which, judging by the story's twists -- particularly in the third act -- suggests he's also got a diabolical side to him.

That's just one more side of him that gets drowned by the visual artistry of "Three Monkeys."